The Splash Education Center is a private facility that houses
Sacramento Splash. The building is centrally located at Mather
Field, facilitating exploration of more than 1,000 acres of
high-quality vernal pool grasslands that surround it.
The Center hosts class trips for schools that participate in the
Splash Elementary Program. It also serves
as a meeting facility for organizations working on issues related
to science education, natural resource conservation, watershed
management, and connecting youth to the
outdoors.
The facility is open to the public several times each year for
public events including Splash’s annual Celebration of Vernal
Pools event and Vernal Pool
Public Tours led by volunteer docents.
The Splash Education Center is one of many buildings at Mather
Field that once served the Air Force and its military
community. Over the years, it has housed a convenience
store, the Mather Credit Union, and more recently, the sales
office of the Independence at Mather developer that converted the
military’s family housing units into new homes. The building
is currently owned by Sacramento County and leased for use by the
Splash program.
The Splash Education Center is home to a collection of live
animals that are found in the vernal pool grassland or other
local habitats. These animals live in a room in the Splash Center
that we call “Critterville.”
Sacramento Splash never takes healthy animals out of the
wild. We only keep critters that would be unable to survive
on their own, either because they were injured or because they
were captive prior to coming to Splash.
Vernal pools were once common in the grasslands around
Sacramento, especially in the vicinity of Mather Field. The vast
majority of pools have since disappeared under the plow or in the
wake of expanding urban development. Experts estimate that we now
see fewer than 10 percent of the vernal pools that existed in
California in John Sutter’s time.
The Splash Center is located at: 4426 Excelsior Road
Mather, CA 95655.
Please click here for a map and directions to the Splash Center from all points.
Be advised: Splash does not maintain regular business hours for the public. Please make arrangements in advance before you visit by calling or emailing a Splasher using Contact Us.
